Coachie helps NOC*NSF to make room for real contact

"At one point I thought: what am I doing all the time?" That question was the starting point for Amber van de Hoef, who works in the HR department at NOC*NSF, to look differently at the HR mailbox where the same kind of questions poured in every day. Together with Wortell, Coachie was introduced: an AI agent that helps employees to quickly provide answers to HR-related questions. Not to replace HR, but rather to provide colleagues with answers to frequently asked questions more quickly. And that gives room for more personal contact. Amber takes us through the steps that have been taken.

NOC*NSF is the umbrella organization for sports in the Netherlands. The organisation supports sports associations, elite sports programmes and initiatives that contribute to a vital and future-proof sports sector. Employees are given a lot of room to organize their work themselves. This regularly raises questions in daily practice. Previously, they went directly to HR. Nowadays, many questions are also answered by Coachie. "I received a lot of questions in the HR mailbox. Of course I would gladly answer it, but if there is another way that saves me time..." Amber kicks off.

Falling into repetition

And with that, the reason for the AI agent Coachie was actually very concrete: to reduce almost daily recurring questions. Or rather: ensure that employees can always easily find the answer themselves. "Answering all the emails took me a lot of time, while employees can also look up the answers themselves, if you organize it properly via the knowledge base. Questions that were often asked were about, for example:

• Do you work with a lease bike scheme?
• How many days off do I have?
• Can I also declare my sports subscription in the personal choice budget?
• How do I apply for my lunch pass?"

The initiative arose from HR itself. Amber saw how much time was lost on recurring questions every day and brought it to the attention. "I always just responded to the questions that came in. At one point I thought: what am I doing all the time? This is how the desire for a chatbot arose. The goal: to answer HR-related questions for employees, so that emailing is no longer necessary. We wanted to make employees more self-reliant without losing the personal role of HR."

Coach of employees

The implementation consisted of a number of steps. Before Coachie went live, the HR knowledge base had to be put in order. This meant determining the right sources of information and cleaning, organizing and organizing the content. The AI agent was then linked to the HR knowledge base and tested with a group of employees. "During testing, we used an overview of frequently asked questions that were asked to HR via email. The answers given by Coachie were assessed for correctness." Only then was Coachie really prepared for use. "Coachie went live on April 1. In the first few weeks, more than a hundred questions were handled by Coachie. The name is completely in the style of sports. Coachie: the HR coach of our employees. From HR, we are also a service provider and a sparring partner. That's why we thought 'Coachie' was appropriate as a name."

Room for individual situations

The first effects of Coachie are already noticeable: the number of questions that come in via e-mail is decreasing. More importantly, the nature of the questions to HR has changed. "It has become quieter in the inbox and I see more personal issues passing by. It is now much more about customization and not about questions that can be easily answered by Coachie. This gives our team more room to help employees get started in their individual situation. For example, around sustainable employability and the development of colleagues. I am now less concerned with my email. The other day I was free and then my colleagues said afterwards: it was actually not that bad what came in the mailbox. That also confirmed that it is actually getting less. Thanks to Coachie, we have more room for real personal contact with our colleagues in HR."

From information to answers

Coachie is an AI agent developed in collaboration with Wortell on the Debble platform. "The collaboration with Wortell started with getting a clear picture of our wishes and needs. From there, we worked step by step on a solution that translates our needs into a working basis. The focus was not only on the technique, but especially on making the right information available for Coachie. That is why the HR knowledge base was first put in order. Information is organized, updated and structured, so that Coachie works on one consistent and reliable source. From that basis, Coachie was used as an AI agent in addition to the knowledge base, to answer questions from employees directly based on existing information. The first experiences within the organization are positive. Employees can continue with the answers and actively use the tool. I mainly hear positive sounds: good initiative, great fun, you are doing well. And there has been no feedback about things that are not right. We are very satisfied with the cooperation with Wortell. Our wishes have been well taken care of and well incorporated into Coachie."

Improving through Coachie

The benefits of Coachie are also evident in another area. What NOC*NSF did not expect and what is happening now: Coachie not only helps employees, but also the organization itself. "We see the answers that Coachie gives and that is also a reason to revise the information on the knowledge base and make it more concrete. It provides insight, with which we can constantly adjust and adjust the content to meet the demands of employees." A concrete example is the questions about the personal choice budget. "We found out that colleagues often find this a complex subject. Previously, we had never described it in such detail on the knowledge base. The fact that we now have insight into this thanks to Coachie immediately gives reason to improve the information. When I went through this subject, I thought: 'oh yes, I have to do something with that'. That's very powerful."

Coachie scores: results after going live

• All employees can consult HR information directly.
• More than 100 questions handled via Coachie in the first weeks.
• Fewer standard questions in the HR mailbox.
• More room for personal HR issues.
• Insight into missing or unclear knowledge base information.
• Positive feedback from employees.

It starts with yourself

What started with a full HR mailbox has now grown into a new way of working. Coachie does not take over work, but takes away repetition. According to Amber, the most important lesson is not in technology, but in behavior. "You just have to take time to reflect on the fact: what am I doing? Can I set this up more efficiently or in a different way? And above all: don't keep doing what you've always done. Don't live in the delusion of the day, take a step back. 'I get the same question five times, so I have to do something with this'. Now I have time to develop myself in terms of advisory skills and to grow in them." And with an eye to the future? "It is good to first initiate the points for improvement that we get out of it and to place information in more detail on the knowledge base. After that, there is certainly the desire to use Coachie throughout the organization, because the potential is broader than HR alone. Questions about finances or ICT are also often asked. That could possibly be the next step."